


First Crisis

by TheBeardedOne



Series: The Institute Saga Side Stories [2]
Category: DC Extended Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:02:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27661766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBeardedOne/pseuds/TheBeardedOne
Summary: A mission to acquire new technology brings a new dimension of trouble to the Justice League.
Series: The Institute Saga Side Stories [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2022299





	1. Prologue

" _This is Lois Lane for Daily Planet Live reporting from the Watchtower with a special report on the Justice League.  
_" _Acting as the headquarters of the League, the Watchtower is the space-station in orbit around Earth. Led by Princess Diana of Themyscera, better known as Wonder Woman, and Kal-El of the now-destroyed planet Krypton, better known as Superman, the Watchtower was designed by the Wayne twins and built by WayneTech. The basic frame was built on Earth and lifted into orbit by Superman, Supergirl, Captain Marvel and J'onn, the Martian Manhunter. Once in orbit, the four flew up modules and support structures to enhance the station until it reached the size it is now.  
_" _Crewed by volunteers from WayneTech/SpaceDivision, the main portion of the Watchtower is a cylinder almost a kilometre long, oriented so that if you stand in the main hall and look up, you see Earth floating against a backdrop of stars, reminding all who stand there that they may have powers, but the welfare of Earth is their primary concern, and that they must always hold the people of Earth's safety as their highest priority. Three smaller cylinders are arranged equidistantly around the main cylinder, connected to the main tower by reinforced pylons and walkways, while a large ring encircles the whole array, containing living quarters for the crew and the heroes who have joined the League.  
_" _The secondary cylinders contain research areas for the three main superhero-allied organisations. WayneTech runs the upper half of what has become known as the Tech tower, Star Labs run the Meta tower and the Sentinels of Magic are based on the obviously-named Magic tower. Other organisations also have labs and research areas on the Watchtower, companies like LexCorp and the Queen Foundation or other groups like the Green Lantern Corps and, amazingly, the Amazons of Themyscera.  
_" _The base of the Watchtower's main structure is where the main power core is. A unique fusion of Green Lantern and Kryptonian technologies, the power core provides enough energy to run the life support systems, the gravity generators and the protective energy shield which is strong enough to survive even a solar flare. The Watchtower has no weapons, but given that it holds several powerful beings to whom the vacuum of space is unimportant, it doesn't actually need any.  
_" _Transport between the Watchtower and Earth is achieved by several different means. All of the Halls of Justice on Earth contain special teleport gates which connect to the Watchtower. Although the energy cost is quite high and the gate can only be held stable for a minute or two, it allows for instant, easy travel up to orbit and back again.  
_" _The second method of travel are the Javelins, the production model of the prototype flown to Krypton and back by Clark Wayne and Green Lantern Hal Jordon, a flight that resulted in the last two Kryptonians becoming guardians of Earth. Capable of FTL travel, the Javelins carry limited armaments as well as heavy shielding systems and sensor arrays.  
_" _The final method is jokingly called GTY, or Get There Yourself. For beings like Captain Marvel, it is simply flying there. For mages like Zatara and his daughter, teleportation. However, most prefer to use the first two methods.  
_" _The Justice League itself is comprised of heroes who have agreed to abide by the code of conduct of the League and is supported by a large number of civilian staff. The Heroes are led by Wonder Woman and Superman, the civilians and support staff work under the benevolent gaze of Lucius Fox, head of WayneTech who has transferred up to the Watchtower to take up his new duties. Although not a powered individual, both Wonder Woman and Superman have declared that he is a full member of the Justice League and he is, to all intents and purposes, their counterpart on the civilian side with full voting rights._  
" _The League itself is best described as a loose alliance. At the top, Wonder Woman, Superman and Lucius Fox provide direction. The day to day duties are generally overseen by the Martian Manhunter and Mr Terrific, with a full staff monitoring communications and emergency channels. As a result, requests for emergency support, medical aid and many other things can be responded to very quickly.  
_" _In the spirit of co-operation, the Justice League has set up smaller space stations in orbit around it, providing each one with power generation, basic life support and two teleport gates, one to the Watchtower, the other to wherever the organisation in question wishes to install the receiver. Already, one of the space stations has been leased by the International Superhuman Threat Response Organisation known as Stormwatch, while the Green Lantern Corps is adapting another as its own independent base of operations for Earth and the surrounding areas..."_

.

"Hello, Lois. May I join you?"

Lois looked round and smiled.

"Superman! Of course, please."

Superman placed his tray on the table and sat down. Picking up his fork, he speared one of the vegetables and then looked up.

"Is there something wrong? Spinach in my teeth or something?"

Lois laughed, then clapped her hands over her mouth. When she had managed to fight down the giggles that threatened to overwhelm her, she lowered her hands.

"No, nothing's wrong. Although..."

Superman paused, swallowed his mouthful of food and looked at her with a quizzical expression.

"I heard that you were the one who recommended me as the main reporter for the Justice League. I was wondering why?"

Superman took a quick sip of his drink before answering. "Well, let's put aside the fact you're one of the best-known reporters around and that you've proved with Diana that you can cope with super-powered beings very well. We'll ignore your good looks and professional demeanor, your ability to dig out hidden truths and expose lies to the public gaze, your determination and grit... I guess it's because we know that we can trust you to tell the truth. About us and what we do."

"You're quite the flatterer." Lois said with a lopsided smile. "But I am not susceptible to flattery."

"I know." Superman shrugged. "You cannot be bought, bribed or threatened into doing anything other than what you see to be your duty. If you thought it necessary, you'd stride into battle just to get a good quote. We respect that sort of bravery. Besides, Batman recommended you."

Lois stiffened. "Batman! Can you get me an interview with him? The rest of you are open books compared to him!"

Superman shook his head. "I am sorry. He doesn't like to be in the spotlight, he prefers to work in the shadows and behind the scenes."

Lois pouted and Superman hastily bit down on the laugh that threatened to escape. Picking up his fork again, he applied himself to the food before him. For a few minutes, Lois simply watched him eat.

"Superman... what was it like, growing up on Krypton?"

"You'd have to ask Supergirl that. I was raised on Earth."

Lois' eyes narrowed. "But you said that Clark Wayne and Hal Jordan brought you and Supergirl to Earth?"

"We were brought to Earth on the Javelin that Hal and Clark were testing, yes." Superman said carefully. "But I had been sent to Earth as a baby, where I was found and adopted. I returned to Krypton to see if anyone else was alive and that's when I found Supergirl in a stasis pod."

"And you met up with Hal and Clark there, and they brought you both back. Is that about it?"

"Something like that, yes."

Lois frowned. "I get the impression that there's a great deal you aren't telling me, Superman."

"Please, call me Kal."

"Kal, then. How did you get from Earth to Krypton? How did you persuade both Hal and Clark to keep quiet about meeting you there and ferrying you and Supergirl back? And why is so much of the technology WayneTech started producing several decades ago so similar, and so easily integrated with your Kryptonian tech?"

"What's your theory?"

"I think you are Bruce Wayne in disguise." Lois pronounced.

"I'm not a Kryptonian." an amused voice said from behind them and Lois paled. "Hi, Kal. Been busy? Ms Lane, a pleasure to meet you again."

Lois dropped her head into her hands. "Oh god, no. Okay, you aren't Bruce."

"I assure you, I am." Bruce said, sitting down beside Clark. "Or did you think Kal was me or vice-versa?"

Lois shook her head and raised her eyes, a new determination filling them. "Okay, so he's Clark. Your brother."

"Did someone call?" a familiar voice said and Lois' head snapped round to stare at the familiar figure entering alongside Supergirl. Clark glanced at Bruce.

"J'onn." Bruce sub-vocalized and Clark nodded, then he rose and collected two more seats.

"Hello! Please, grab some food and sit down. We were just discussing secret identities."

"This can _not_ be happening." Lois groaned. "That's _twice_ I've been wrong in as many minutes. I must be losing my touch."

"We were just passing through." Supergirl said. "Clark here wanted a tour to see how we're settling in up here and to say hello to a few of the heroes."

"Superman," J'onn said, reaching out and shaking Clark's hand. "It is good to see you again. We'll have to do dinner sometime." _**Kara told me this was necessary. I hope I am not embarrassing you.**_

"It's great to see you too, Clark." Clark said with a smile. "Once again, thanks for the help you've given us."

"It was an honour." J'onn said. "I'd like to stay and chat, but I'm on a tight schedule. Bruce..."

"Enjoy your tour." Bruce grinned. "I have to head back down soon. Work keeps just piling up. I sometimes wish I was Kryptonian, that super-speed must come in handy."

"I am not going to live this down, am I?" Lois asked almost rhetorically. The others just grinned at her and she sighed.

.

"Heya, beautiful, what's wrong? You seem down. Need a friend?"

Lois looked round and couldn't help but return the smile that the red-clad hero was giving her. "Oh, hi, Flash. How are things?"

"Great!" Flash said expansively. "I just signed a contract with Martha's Meals, you know, part of Wayne Enterprises? Three public appearances a year and a few adverts, and in return I get a decent paycheck and all the food I can eat! You know, it was really hard surviving before that, having a hyper metabolism can be a real pain sometimes. So, I'm happy! Now you, what's got you down? Can I help?"

"I think I'm losing my touch." Lois sighed. "I accused Superman of being Bruce Wayne."

Flash frowned slightly. "That... might actually be true. WayneTech has a real lock on all that Kryptonian tech stuff..."

"Yeah." Lois replied with a humorless laugh. "And as soon as I said it, who should come in but..."

"Bruce Wayne." Flash said with a nod. "Ouch. That's gotta sting. So what happened next?"

"Next, I changed my stance a bit, and said..."

"Clark Wayne." Flash finished. "And let me guess, he showed up too?"

At Lois' nod, Flash inhaled sharply and shook his head. "Wow. Embarrassment city. And I thought yesterday's soda incident was bad."

"The what?" Lois asked, her self-berating momentarily forgotten.

"I grabbed a bottle of what I thought was orange juice to keep me going through the big meeting." Flash said. "Turned out to be orange soda. Fizzy. I rushed into the meeting room, sat down, opened the bottle and..."

"Oh no!" Lois laughed. "Oh, you didn't! You're making that up, right?"

"Fwwwsssshhh all over the place!" Flash said, miming the spray of fizz with his fingers. "All over me, Superman, Captain Marvel, Nightwing, Dove... not pretty. Anyway, long story short, Zatanna, nice lady, not as pretty as you, though, waved her wand and said some gobbledygook and suddenly, all the mess was tidy. But wow, I felt only two inches tall after that. So, you feeling better?"

"Oh god." Lois gasped as she leaned against Flash for support. "Oh, if only I could have seen that. Thanks. Wow. I hope they didn't hold it against you."

"Nah, the Big S found it funny. Told me afterwards that he didn't hold it against me and told me a couple of stories about how he messed up a few times when first learning to use his powers. Said that when he was learning to fly… think George of the Jungle, but without the vines. He's a real nice guy, I like him. Hey, think I'd look good in black and silver like him and Supergirl?"

Lois stepped back and looked him up and down. "I don't know, Flash, as you are, you're... iconic. The red really suits you. I don't think black would."

"Iconic..." Flash mused. "Iconic... I like that. Thanks."


	2. Arrangements

"You wanted to see me?"

Superman nodded and walked across to the armoured hero.

"Steel, yes, I did. I've been reviewing the after-action reports of the Joining incident, as well as the personnel files, and I have a few questions to ask you. Please, sit."

Steel sat on the indicated seat and removed his helmet as Superman sat down on the facing chair.

"What did you want?"

"I am fully aware of your links to WayneTech and how you've incorporated Kryptonian Tech into your armor. Supergirl and I, as well as Batman and a few others, recently visited Krypton to... _recover_ some items that Kara thought might be of interest."

"Kara?"

"Supergirl. She was raised on Krypton. Anyway, the orbital museum survived the planet's destruction, as did several orbital warehouses including a military stockpile. We got quite a haul and are planning another trip."

"And you need more people to help? You can count on me."

"That as well, yes." Superman said. "Among the items we salvaged were several suits of Kryptonian armor. Kara and I were hoping that you and few others could help us reconfigure some of it in order to upgrade our outfits. How would you like a suit of Kryptonian armor for yourself?"

Steel's eyes widened. "Full Kryptonian armor? My suit is good, but... I upgrade it with more Kryptonian tech every chance I get. A full set?"

"Ceremonial combat armor. Energy weapons, protective shielding. We have several different suits, we can fit you out with one, then reconfigure its outer surface however you wish."

Steel stared at him for a few moments, then his eyes narrowed. "And why don't you want it? Equip you with Kryptonian armor and you'll be unstoppable."

Superman smiled. "I just want to slightly upgrade the tech I have. And in a way, it doesn't matter how strong or invulnerable I am, I can only be in one place at a time. You, though, you took some damage to your armor during the fight, you had to spend quite a bit of time fixing it. Kryptonian Armour is somewhat self-fixing, given power and raw materials."

"I'm in." Steel said. "Not because of the armor, although I will accept with thanks, but because I want to. Who else is in?"

.

"Hey, Superman! Sorry I'm late, school sports day over-ran and I couldn't get away any earlier. Wow! Steel?"

"Hello, Gear." Superman said with a smile. "Ready to get started?"

"Oh yeah!" Gear said, his voice filled with glee. "A chance to get a Kryptonian data-matrix and power gear? Not to mention proper flight-equipment, not the jury-rigged stuff I made. How could I say no? Wow, this is a cool lab! Whose is it?"

"Steel is in charge." Clark said. "Aside from me, Supergirl and Batman, he has the most experience in the League of Kryptonian technology and how to integrate it. However, may I introduce someone I think will be useful?"

Superman motioned and both Steel and Gear followed his motion as a man walked in. "This is Lucius Fox. He's been researching Kryptonian tech for several decades. Lucius, be gentle with them please."

"Don't worry, Kal." Lucius grinned. "I won't eat them. Unless they do something stupid, that is."

.

Steel frowned at the data streaming across his HUD and then adjusted several of the settings. After a moment, the data responded and he smiled and retracted his helmet.

"I'm done." he said. "Anyone need any help?"

"Almost got it..." Gear said, then a sudden cloud of smoke engulfed him. Lucius and Steel rushed over as Gear fell to the floor, coughing.

"Gear? Gear?"

"I'm okay." Gear said weakly. "Didn't expect _that_ much smoke, this power system is way stronger than the one I used before. Hey, when did you change back into your old armor?"

"I didn't." Steel said. "I simply reconfigured it. Took me a while to grok the controls, but..."

"To _what_ the controls?"

Steel paused for a moment. "Um, to understand them. Had to upload a translation patch, the controls were all in Kryptonian which I _do_ understand, but it takes a bit of concentration. Got it in english, re-wrote the menus and readouts, reconfigured the outer skin, mapped the systems and noted possible upgrades. Done. Damn, I like this suit, fits better than my old one, and I made that one from scratch."

"Maybe I should ask for one." Gear said, standing up. "How many are there?"

"They got five that work." Steel said, moving across to a workbench scattered with parts and plans. "As well as parts from several dozen broken suits. Lucius, where did you get up to?"

"Kara's visor." Lucius said. "There seems to be a problem that I can't quite solve in the detection systems."

"I assume the crystal matrix is unflawed?" Steel asked. At Lucius' nod, he donned his helmet and extended a probe. "Well, it'll be either connections or software, let me check the program..."

.

"Wow! I like it!"

Kara slow-rolled through the air and dropped back into formation beside Steel.

"It's called Augmented Reality." Steel said. "I managed to find the software incompatibilities between the various functions and resolved them. You should find that with the sensor systems covering your blind spots, you can dodge incoming attacks from any angle. I have something similar in my armor."

"You are amazing!" Kara laughed. "I only learned how to use this tech, fixing and re-configuring it was a task left to the experts. I like the collision-alert thing."

"It's good up to mach-6." Steel said. "Above that, it gets... spotty. It'll still alert you, but the auto-map function may not be able to keep up. Especially in crowded environments."

Kara nodded, then slowed from their almost-supersonic pace. As she slowed, the smooth silver backplate shivered and unfolded, becoming her cape.

"Batman is a genius." Steel mused as he slowed and his red backplate did the same. "Capes look great and confuse the enemy, but they really slow you in flight. Having them fold away automatically... wish I'd thought of that."

Kara touched down lightly on the roof of the Detroit Hall of Justice, then stepped out of Steel's way as he landed with a whining of Kryptonian grav-thrusters.

"Hey, guys! Cool entrance!"

"Hey, Static." Kara grinned. "Gear sends his regards, he's testing out his upgrades with Superman. Just in case something else goes wrong. How's everyone?"

"Oh, the Justice League Auxiliaries are doing great!" Static enthused. "Thanks for sending Red Tornado and Dove over to lead and train us in basic skills. And I've learned loads from Black Lightning, we've developed some really cool teamwork moves, it's _great_ learning from another electric-type."

"Good to know." Kara said, smiling as Static dropped to the ground and folded his metal disc away. "You getting on with the other trainees?"

"I already knew some, but yeah. Kid Flash is a real laugh, Artemis is... well, serious. Especially in training. She insists we all learn basic fighting skills in case our powers abandon us. I think she really just likes to beat up on us, but we are learning. Kid Flash and Beast Boy keep pranking each other, you should have seen seen Nail's face when they accidentally caught her in one of their pranks. She chased them round the Hall for an hour, vowing to spank then so they couldn't move for a week. Aqualad is turning into a real leader, and Martian Girl..."

"Who?" Kara asked as Static waved them inside.

"Martian Girl." Static repeated. "You know, Martian Manhunter's niece? Goes by the name Megan when she's not in her green-skinned space-babe form. Her uncle and Zatara are teaching her how to control her telepathy better, she's slipped a couple of times, but she's so nice that we don't mind. We seem to have lost some Bang-babies though, I have no clue what happened to the Night Breed."

"The four who cannot stand light due to their changes?" Kara asked. At Static's worried nod, she continued. "I can answer that. The Batcave has a lot of room for expansion, we installed several apartments for them and they moved in. They occasionally help Batman out, usually as mission control, and Batman has ensured that they have whatever they want. If you wish, I can take you to visit them to check for yourself. Or simply give you their phone numbers."

"I'll hold you to that." Static said. "Thanks, when I found their hide-out abandoned, I started fearing the worst. They're good kids, they just gained sucky powers. So, here's the main hall and... hey guys! Look who's here, Supergirl and Steel!"

The various kids and teenagers in the hall abandoned their games and discussions and flooded towards them.

"Supergirl, She-Bang. Nice to meet another powerhouse." "Steel! I'm Nail, how do you do..."

For several minutes the hubbub reigned as Supergirl and Steel found their hands shook and shoulders slapped, then Static called for silence.

"So, you said in your heads-up you had a mission you thought would be good training?"

"I did." Supergirl said. "In a week's time, several of us are taking some Javelins and a cargo ship loaned to us by the Green Lantern Corps to Krypton on a salvage mission to gather as much Kryptonian tech as possible from what remains. We have space for half a dozen trainees to come along once we've fitted them out with space-suits. There will be a lot of zero-G and vacuum work, so the use of powers may be... limited. If you can decide amongst yourselves who wants to come... oh, and parental approval _will_ be required if you still live at home."

"Oh man." Static moaned. "I'll have to tell my mom and dad who I am. Not cool. What? Oh, okay."

For several minutes, the entire group remained silent, occasionally exchanging glances or making hand motions, then Aqualad nodded firmly.

"Miss Martian has her Bioship which has Javelin-level FTL capability, so she's going. She can also provide telepathic linkage and scanning. I'm staying here since my water-powers would be next to useless and someone needs to stay to keep an eye on the remaining youngsters, so Static will lead the group. You'll need strength and agility, so She-Bang, Artemis, Beast Boy and Gear. If any of them can't get permission, Cyborg and Nail are the two replacements."

"You decided all that telepathically?" Kara inquired and Aqualad nodded.

"Thanks to Miss Martian, yes. It's faster than speaking aloud, lets us make plans quickly and quietly."

"Makes sense." Steel said. "If you have an advantage, use it."

"Steel, can I ask for your help?" Static said.

.

The man who answered the door stared at Static and Steel with wide eyes.

"Mr Samms? May we come in? We have something we wish to discuss with you, and I am sure you would not like to discuss it on the veranda."

"S... sure. Please, come in. Please, sit down? Is it Virgil? What's happened to him? Where is he?"

"I'm here, dad." Static sighed, pulling his mask off.

"Virg? Why are you dressed as Static?"

"Because he _is_ Static, Mr Samms." Steel rumbled as he retracted his helmet. "And an opportunity has risen for him to get more experience heroing, but we needed to discuss it with you first since it will involve interstellar travel, meaning he'll be away for a couple of weeks."

Mr Samms stared at them for a moment. "Virg... is Static?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Virgil was right not to tell you earlier, Mr Samms." Steel said softly. "If word had slipped out, you would have been in danger. You and your whole family. That is still the case, but to a lesser degree. You and your family have been placed on our 'priority protect' list. That means that should you be targeted, the Justice League _will_ protect you. Anyway, the mission in question is a journey to Krypton, the now-destroyed homeworld of Superman and Supergirl. It is a salvage mission, we are collecting cultural items, technology and other things that may have survived the planet's destruction. Your son's electrical abilities may prove very useful on this mission. He is not the only JLA member to be going, but he will be the senior member of the JLA squad seconded to this mission. It will be good practice for him. Very educational."

"I... see." Mr Samms said slowly. "Are you going?"

"I am, so is Superman, Supergirl, Green Lantern Hal Jordon, Captain Atom, Hawkgirl, Green Arrow and Batman."

"Wow, hold on!" Virgil exclaimed. "Batman too?"

"Yes." Steel said, smiling faintly at the awe in Virgil's voice. "Batman. He decided he was going, and Superman agreed."

"Batman?" Virgil whispered. "Wow! Cool!"

"Will it be safe?"

"With that many powerhouses around, it will be as safe as we can make it. We'll ensure that they have proper space-suits before we go, and training in how to use them. It's just a salvage mission, we don't expect any problems. And if there are any, we'll load the kids into Miss Martians Bioship and protect it until it can get FTL. I won't say it'll be perfectly safe, but it will be as safe as we can make it. You have my word of honour on that, sir."


	3. Expedition

"Wow, this is cool. I wish Gear could be here, he'd love it."

"His parents said no." Steel reminded his exuberant passenger. "I'm amazed all the others said yes, to be honest."

"Javelin 3 to Javelin lead. Steel, you there?"

"Where else would I be, Hawkgirl. Your passengers still alive?"

"I've been tempted to take my mace to them a time or two." Hawkgirl replied, exasperation and humor mingling in her voice. "Can we put in a request for bigger ships next time? Something that means we _aren't_ living in each other's feathers?"

"You've got the bio-ship docked underneath you." Steel retorted with a grin. "I think you have plenty of room there. More than the rest of us. Besides, why you moaning? I thought you were looking forwards to all that girl talk?"

A snort of laughter sounded through the comm. "You don't know what you're missing. We spent almost a day discussing which of the GL's was the hunkiest. I went for John Stewart."

Steel raised an eyebrow, then another voice sounded.

"What? Mr Semper Fi beat _me_?"

"Sorry, Hal, but John has a certain... _je ne sais quois_. His ego is more balanced than yours."

"My ego isn't unbalanced!"

"Sorry, Hal." Green Arrow said, "But your ego is almost as big as mine. If you could use ego to power your ring, you'd be able to shield the whole of Earth."

Several different people laughed at that and Hal sighed.

"Comes of being a test pilot, I guess. I wonder if there is an ego corps out there."

"What corps are there?"

"At the moment, green, blue and violet, as far as I know. Blue is powered by hope, violet by love, of all things. I've heard rumours of red and orange, but haven't been able to confirm or deny them. Red is supposed to be anger. Dunno about orange. Sinestro was saying something about yellow, but since that's fear, I don't see how it could be useful. I think that Parallax incident rattled him. I think that's all."

"We'll probably find out about any others when they show up asking to rent one of the secondary stations." Steel grinned. "So far we have Green Lanterns, Stormwatch... I hear they tried to recruit Martian Manhunter, Cadmus... whatever that is, LexCorp, probably envious of WayneTech... I know I've missed some. Oh well. Anyway, according to my readouts, we're only a few more minutes from emergence."

"Same here."

"Agreed."

"Batman here." A familiar voice said. "Once we emerge, all javelins are to undock and take position around the bioship, transferring the junior team to it. Full shields. I'll scout ahead in the Batplane, Hal, you bring up the rear. Remember, order of protection once transfer is complete is bioship, then freighter. We don't want to lose anyone, especially the younger members of our team."

"Superman here, I agree." Another voice said as Static gave Steel a questioning look. "All further plans are contingent on what Batman finds. Miss Martian, if anything suspicious happens, you are to get your team back to the watchtower as fast as possible. No heroics, your lives are far more important than anything we might find out here. Understand?"

"Understood." Miss Martian replied.

"Good. Batman, private channel please."

The intercom cut off and Static whistled. "Wow, Supes is going to tear Batman a new one for taking over."

"I doubt it." Steel said. "Batman's the strategist, remember? He may be tall, dark and brooding, but he really relaxes around Superman. I've even seen him laugh once."

Satic's eyes widened and he gave Steel a disbelieving look.

"I'm serious. Superman cracked a really, _really_ bad pun during one of the missions we did together and Batman laughed. Quietly, and only for a second or two, but he laughed. Shocked the hell out of me, I didn't know he could do that."

"Supes does have a keen sense of humor." Static admitted after a few seconds thought.

"He's the one who named several of the things Batman uses." Steel added, earning another disbelieving look. "Batarangs, the Batmobile, the Batwing and the Batplane. I'd have gone for Batshuttle or Batspaceship, maybe Batjavelin, but Batplane just… works. What? You thought Batman came up with those names?"

Static frowned for a bit, then shook his head. "I… guess I never thought about it. Is that why he keeps shooting those looks at Supes? And how did they meet?"

"They never said." Steel shrugged. "From the few things they've let slip, I think that Superman and Supergirl were being trained by Batman as new members of his Batfamily, but the Joining made them change their plans. Supergirl's noted that her training in the League isn't as hard as under Batman and Nightwing, for instance. Although how a hero with no metapowers could throw a powerhouse like Supergirl around in training has me baffled."

Static stared at him. "Batman… threw Supergirl around in training?"

"Yep." Steel said. "I've seen Superman sparring against Captain Marvel a few times. Marvel kept getting his ass handed to him on a silver platter. Superman noted that a few of the moves he used had been used against him by Batman. Given that their names keep coming up in the training rota, I think that Superman's training Marvel in proper fighting rather than simple brawling. Heh, he once said that in over five years of sparring, he's only beaten Batman four times."

"Batman… four… what the hell is he?"

"Kryptonian."

Static shook his head. "Not Superman, Batman. I mean, how can anyone… with no powers… just… Superman?"

"Batman is prepared." Steel said with a shrug. "I think he has plans on how to neutralize every meta he's ever met, should it be needed. Even you and me."

Static stared at him.

"I've had time to think about it." Steel said. "It's rather meta… heh… but it seems to be an Archetype thing. Most of the League fills one of two primary archetypes, Superman and Batman most of all. Superman is the archetypal Protector. He works with the law, saving people and stopping crime. Batman is the Avenger, he does similar, but steps in when the law isn't enough, when justice has been denied. The role of Protector works well with society, being a symbol of hope. The role of Avenger…" Steel shrugged, "That's a bit more problematic. There are other roles, but those two are the most common."

Static stared at his metal-clad colleague, then shrugged and looked out of the main viewport again.

"Hey, that looks like that warehouse thing mentioned in the briefing. Is that where we're going?"

"Good eyes, kid." Steel said, tapping his comm. "This is Steel. Thanks to Static, we have visual on what we believe to be our primary target.

.

"What on earth was this?" Superman asked as he and Supergirl stared at the complex mechanical monstrosity looming before and above them, ignoring the sounds echoing behind in from behind them as the other members of the team worked to pull out the last few items from the other vaults. Supergirl shrugged.

"I don't know. It sort of looks like the interplanetary wormhole generator used to travel between the kryptonian worlds, but it's… different. Bigger. More powerful, probably has a longer range."

Superman nodded and looked round. "Okay, this is definitely worth looking at."

"Hey, it's targeted at Earth!"

Superman glanced over to where Kara was examining a screen.

"Earth?"

"Yeah, well, the Sol system, anyway." Kara said as she tapped a few controls. "I think they might have been planning to use this thing to evacuate before Krypton exploded, but they ran out of time. It's still functional, though, and the power core readings are… oh no, that's not good…"

Clark turned to look back at the machine, which suddenly seemed more ominous. Hitting his communicator, he started to give orders.

"We may have a situation. All personnel evacuate immediately and cast off. All vacuum-capable personnel do a sweep to ensure everyone else is out and then rejoin them at a safe distance. Kara and I will try to keep the situation in hand, but if you see us fleeing, get the hell out of there. Move!"

A flurry of replies echoed through the comm and Clark turned to face Kara.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"I need some systems disconnected, I'll tell you which ones. But first, open a route to outside. If we need to leave, we won't have time to open any doors. Heck, we may be unable to take the time to go round any corners."

Superman raised one eyebrow, but left to prepare the emergency exit. Kara watched him go and then turned back to the flickering systems diagnostic screen.

"Now," She mused, "Do I detach the quantum resonation inducer first, or do I detune the trans-dimensional manifold?"

.

The military warehouse was a tiny dot, even on the Bioship's viewscreen.

"Sure we're not too close?" Static remarked sarcastically.

"Kara said that the thing they were trying to disable had interstellar range." Megan said from her position in the control chair, her mind linked with the ship as she watched through its sensors. "She also said that the projection array was the most powerful she had ever seen. I'm not entirely certain that we are safe here, even though we're ready to go FTL."

"I know." Static sighed as he glanced out of the viewport, seeing the familiar shape of a Javelin in position to shield them in case anything happened. "I just… I just think that I could be helping. I am an electric-type, after all."

"Kryptonian tech relies on more than just electrons. It uses plasma and light as well, although it mainly relies on quantum states." Cyborg said, looking up from where he had plugged into the specially-installed interface panel. "I should know, I've upgraded my own cybernetics with the stuff, and it's given me far more strength and capabilities. Heck, my neural enhancement systems are at 563.6% of my pre-upgrade levels. Woah! Energy readings! _Massive_ spike!"

.

"Shit!"

Even before Kara had finished her swearword, both she and Superman had pushed themselves away from the device and were accelerating at a rate that they would have thought impossible at any other time. Behind them, the machine seemed to warp and twist, parts of it phasing through dimensions that even Kryptonian eyes had no chance of detecting.

"Emergency bugout!" Clark called as they shot through the doorway at a small but respectable fraction of lightspeed, but they were almost too late as space started to twist around them. Time itself seemed to stretch and both Superman and Supergirl went evasive as wormholes opened and closed around them like a demented deity's firework show.

But the area of effect was limited.

Then it happened. Clark found himself slowing as they reached the edge of the twisted space. Glancing sideways, he saw Supergirl was also struggling.

There was no hesitation on his part. Reaching out, he grabbed her and threw her outwards, the reaction pushing him backwards and into the wormhole that had opened behind him. Kara had just enough time to see the planet at the other end of the wormhole before it closed.

She recognized it.

.

"The wormhole sent him back to Earth?"

Kara nodded at Batman's question, then glanced at the screen that showed the area of debris that had once been the largest military storehouse on Krypton.

Batman exhaled slowly.

"Good. Then we should return to meet up with him again. I think we got all we can use on this trip."

"I agree." Kara said with a slight smile. "You know, if he got the energy readings as he went through, we may be able to reconstruct that device. Interstellar portals."

"Could be useful." Batman allowed as he tapped a new course into the navigation computer. "Getting here and back in less than an hour would allow for more technology to be retrieved."


	4. Reality Check

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter crosses over with [Institute Saga III.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27659536/chapters/67683527)

"Ouch."

Superman rubbed his aching head as he floated in space. A beep caught his attention and he opened his eyes, instinctively focusing on the warning in his visor's HUD.

"What the… only thirty minutes of air left? Where am… Earth! Excellent. Time to get to _terra firma_."

Taking a small breath, trying not to deplete his oxygen reservoirs further, Superman flew towards his adopted homeworld, smiling as he felt the sun's rays recharging him. Angling slightly, he changed course, frowning as he saw only scattered towns where Metropolis should have been.

"Superman to Watchtower. J'onn, do you copy? Mr Terrific, are you there?"

Superman frowned as no-one answered and he keyed a diagnostic for his comm system. The results were… unexpected.

"No system errors, no hardware faults detected… No signal found? Why is the tower under emcon? As soon as I restock my oxygen, I'm heading back up to check."

.

"We need backup now!" the police officer screamed as another police car exploded, the flaming wreckage being pushed aside by the advancing stolen armoured vehicle. "We're being flattened here, they'll be at the prison in less than five minutes!"

"Understood." The dispatcher said. "SWAT is on its way."

"Unless they have tanks, they'll be no good!" the officer cried as another car exploded, the cops hiding behind it having managed to retreat as the cannon had swung round, the webbing that Spider-man had fired not slowing it in the slightest. "We need help! Real help! Oh shit…"

The cop gulped as the cannon swung towards him and fired…  
…and a new black-and-silver figure blocked the projectile.

"Dispatch… I think help just arrived."

The armoured car screeched to a halt and the main gun fired again. Once again, the figure caught and dropped the projectile, then he flew forwards and grabbed the gun, twisting it until the trunnions were ripped out of their mountings. A few seconds later, the mangled remains of the machine guns joined the warped barrel on the ground, then the mystery figure ripped the side open and started to pull out the sweating criminals.

"Officer, do you have handcuffs?"

The officer nodded as he and several others advanced to help. The silver-cloaked man nodded at them, then looked round as Spider-man dropped down by his side.

"Thanks for the assist… Clark? What's with the new outfit?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Your new outfit." Spider-man said, motioning at him. "Man, it looks cool and all, but I really think I preferred the blue-and-red. We colour-co-ordinated. What does Martha think about it?"

"…martha?"

"Clark… it's _me_ , Spider-man. You remember me, right? We talked at breakfast?"

"Sorry I'm late, I was rescuing a ferry in New Zealand." A new voice said and Spider-man did a double-take as Superman, clad in his blue and red, landed. "What happened?"

"…what the _hell_?"

The newly arrived Superman looked round and blinked in shock.

"I… think we need to talk. Can you fly? Good, follow me."

.

Clark Wayne landed on the roof of an unfamiliar skyscraper and looked round as Clark Kent moved to one corner and opened a small door.

"I see Johnny stocked up the fridge again. Do you want a drink?"

"Coke?"

"Normal, Diet or Zero?"

"Normal, thanks."

"Odd." Clark Kent noted as he gently tossed a red can over. "I prefer Diet. Anyway. From what I saw of your QNA when I scanned you, you're a Kryptonian like me, correct?"

"I am. Kal-El, son of Jor-El, honored to meet you."

Clark Kent took a sip of his drink. "Interesting. I happen to be Kal-El, son of Jor-El, as well."

Clark Wayne's eyes widened. "The portal! It must have sent me to another world!"

"So… this is _not_ your world? That would explain quite a bit."

"No, and my brother must be going insane with worry." Wayne said, earning an odd look.

"Brother? I have a sister, although she's adopted."

"Sister?"

.

"…so until we find a way to get you back to your world, you're happy going by Kal?"

"I am." Kal agreed. "Thank you for being so understanding."

Clark shrugged. "Well, as you're the fifth active Kryptonian on Earth at the moment, your abilities will prove very useful."

A _thwip_ announced Spider-man's arrival and Clark opened the fridge and pulled out a can of Pepsi, tossing it lightly towards the edge. Spider-man somersaulted over the lip of the balcony and snagged the can out of the air, landing on the wall and spreading out along it.

"…how?"

"Spider-type powers." Clark explained. "Peter, meet Kal, he's me from an alternate dimension."

"Explains a lot." Peter said, lifting his mask enough that he could take a sip of his drink. "So, is there a me there who hangs out with you?"

"No." Kal said. "In fact, I don't even know if you exist in my world. On my way in, I noticed that you were missing at least one city."

"What?" Peter asked. "Which city?"

"Metropolis. And I didn't see Gotham either."

"As far as I know, we don't have those cities." Clark confirmed before he took another sip. "You know, I'll have to show you a map to see what's different."

"Hi, Clark." A new voice said as the door opened and Clark waved lazily to the new arrival.

"Hi, Reed. Kal, this is Reed Richards, also known as Mr. Fantastic. He's one of the greatest scientific minds on the planet and has stretching powers. Reed, this is Kal-El, my analogue from another reality where he was adopted by a different family."

"Nice to meet you." Reed said, extending his arm (literally). Kal shook it with a wry smile.

"Plastic Man has similar powers."

"Oh, he a scientist too?"

Kal coughed. "Actually, he's a reformed villain."

Reed's face blanked as Spider-man almost fell off the wall laughing.

"Reed and the others got their powers from an odd type of cosmic radiation." Clark interjected. "They used to be called the Fantastic Four."

"Used to be?" Kal asked worriedly and Clark smiled.

"They're the Fantastic _Five_ now, they have a Kryptonian on their team. Where is Karsta anyway?"

"She and Susan are out shopping." Reed said with a slight shrug. "Susan's been very happy since Karsta joined us."

"Karsta?" Kal repeated. "I know of a _Kara_ …"

"She was the first one I had revived from stasis. Um, you have checked Argo for survivors, haven't you?"

"I have." Kal said slowly. "And Kara was the only one."

"Interesting." Clark frowned. "Very interesting."

"Aha!"

Everyone turned to look at Reed, who was using one hand to type on three different keyboards while the other was making notes that spread across three whiteboards.

"Aha?" Peter asked curiously. "What do you… oh wow. Um, have you taken the dimensional tension coefficient into account?"

Reed paused, the made a couple of quick alterations to his equation.

"Okay, now I need to contact Tony. With his help, we can create a portal…"

"Whoah!" Peter interrupted. "Remember SHIELD Agent rule 336 in the newest booklet?"

" _Stop asking Stark to build Portal devices_." Reed recited. "I know, but we really don't have much of a choice here."

"I'm going to get Forge to help." Peter said as he leapt off the wall. "We'll need all the tech-help we can get."

"What just happened?" Kal asked blankly. "Stark? Handbook?"

"Come on." Clark smiled. "It's almost dinner time and if you haven't had a Martha Kent meal, you don't know what you're missing."

Kal followed Clark into the skies above New York, looking round curiously.

"You seem to have several skyscrapers that we don't have on my world. What's that one?"

"The Avengers Tower, formerly the Stark Tower." Superman said. "My cousin Kara lives there, she's the most powerful member of the Avengers." Looks like they're off on another mission."

"How many super-teams are there?"

Clark shrugged. "It depends on how you define team. There's the Avengers, the West Coast Avengers who are kind of their backup and reserves, the X-Men, Generation-X, the Henshin Rangers, the Fantastic Five, Excalibur, the Gargoyles… more and more teams and groups seem to be appearing every day. Fortunately, we have SHIELD to help to direct them so we can act more effeciently and call in backup when needed."

"So… SHIELD are kind of mission control for everyone?"

"More of a trusted ally slash advisory body." Clark replied. "They keep an eye on things, but only intervene if things are going to go totally fubar."

"I… think I see." Kal mused. "How many of them have Kryptonians?"

"Well, apart from the two that you know about, only Generation-X and Chris doesn't have the full powerset yet."

"Which team are you on?"

"I'm not, although the team I'm closest to is the X-Men."

"Sounds just like Bruce and the Justice League." Kal laughed, then he suddenly halted, staring to his right. "Is… that a _castle_?"

"Yep, Castle Wyvern, owned by David Xanatos." Clark supplied. "He had it moved from Scotland to break a spell cast on some of the inhabitants a thousand years ago."

"Huh." Kal said in surprise. "Did it work?"

"Yeah, but for a while, he and the Gargoyles were on opposite sides. Things have changed recently and the Gargoyles have moved back into the castle. You can see them on the wall."

"The statues?"

"They're only stone during the day." Clark shrugged. "Come on, dinner's waiting."

"Well, I guess I am kinda hungry." Kal smiled, then he glanced back at the stone castle perched atop the skyscraper. "Fascinating world you have here."

"Hang on… do you hear that?"

"A bank alarm." Clark nodded. "Up for catching some crooks?"

"Always." Kal smirked. "When they see _two_ Supermen… I'm going to _love_ seeing their expressions."

"I… hadn't actually considered that." Clark admitted as they changed course.

.

The sound of one of the bank robbers fainting while another curled up and started to sob somehow emphasized the shocked silence caused by the entry of not one but _two_ Supermen, one in the easily-recognizable red-and-blue, the other in black-and-silver.

Both were hovering about six inches above the floor and had almost identical, amused smiles.

"Oh, _crap_." The lead robber said almost calmly as he slowly unloaded his gun before placing it on the counter. "We've lost, guys. Disarm. They're bulletproof, remember?"

Most of the others started to follow suit, but one brought his gun up and fired at Kal. Kal responded by catching and dropping all of the bullets, then he saw the look that the lead robber was giving him.

"Ricochets."

"Ahhhh. Right."

As Kal looked back, the empty gun bounced off his forehead and he dropped to the ground as if he was a puppet whose strings had just been cut.

Clark facepalmed.

"That… worked?" The shocked robber asked, then suddenly Kal was standing again.

"You saw his expression?" He laughed.

"We're meant to be _catching_ them, not putting on a comedy routine for them." Clark sighed.

"Killjoy." Kal grumbled as he motioned for the shocked robber to join the others. "Ummm, now what?"

"Police! Nobody… oh, hey Clark! Thanks for catching them for us."

Kal gave Clark a curious look. "You didn't mention that you went public."

"I was outed." Clark replied with a shrug. "I assume that you still have two separate identities in your world."

"Yep, I do." Kal confirmed as he saw the police giving him odd looks. "I'm sort of him from another reality. But I don't have a goatee."

"Non-evil Spock." One of the cops said and the others suddenly nodded in understanding.

"We were heading back to the Institute for one of my mother's meals." Clark said. "Do you want me to visit the station to fill out the forms?"

"Nah, just e-mail them to us and it'll be fine." The senior officer said as he pulled out several sets of handcuffs. "I mean, with all the CCTV and stuff, they'll get laughed at if they try anything other than a guilty plea."

" _Two_ Supermans." One of the robbers groused as he was led outside. "That's just not fair."

"So," Kal said with a raised eyebrow. "Food?"


	5. Contact

"What?"

Captain Marvel shrugged as Diana stared at him, almost unable to believe her ears.

"I know! I mean, who steals gift-packages, right?"

"To be fair, we had gift-wrapped them to look like it was highly valuable tech." Flash added. "But stealing from orphans, even for Luthor, that's low."

"I know I'm going to regret this," Diana said slowly, "But what _exactly_ was in the gift packages?"

"Flash and I had been practicing our baking." Marvel said with a grin. "We made ten large chocolate cakes, ten vanilla sponges… ten… ten… what were the others again?"

"Ten fruit cakes and ten jam-cream cakes." Flash said. "And that bastard Luthor distracted us with his henchmen and took the cakes while we weren't looking."

"So he stole forty cakes." Diana said, rubbing her forehead.

"Forty cakes." Flash confirmed.

"Four tens." Marvel said. "And that's terrible! I mean, those kids really deserved those cakes."

Diana stared at the two of them for a full minute and they started to shift under her gaze. Finally she sighed and shook her head.

"Alright. Go and bake some new cakes and I'll round up a couple of others to help you deliver them. Defending cakes against Lex Luthor. Could this day get any stranger?"

A yellow man with a long red feather boa ran past, cackling gleefully, pursued by a dozen people covered in feathers. Diana dropped her head into her hands.

"Why did I tempt the gods like that? I should have known better. Excuse me. Creeper! _What_ did you do?"

"That's _**The**_ Creeper!" The fleeing, chuckling figure called back as he vanished round the corner. Diana shook her head again.

"Why did Batman recruit him? He's chaos incarnate."

Marvel and Flash watched her stalk off, then looked at each other with identical looks of confusion.

"Because he's the only one who the Joker truly fears."

"Jeeze, Bats!" Flash gasped, trying to stop hyperventilating. "Stop doing that to us!"

Marvel nodded in agreement, his hands clasped over his mouth and his cheeks blushed with embarrassment. Glancing round, he relaxed when he realized that no-one else had been close enough to hear his _'eep'_ of shock.

"Has Superman checked in yet?" Batman asked, his tone even more intent than normal. Flash looked at him oddly.

"He was with you for the Krypton mission, right? I remember seeing you all leave…"

"We got separated. He got sucked into a wormhole pointed at Earth." Batman said. "I think something went wrong. I'll be in one of the labs if anyone needs me."

.

"Any luck?"

Batman nodded slightly as his hands flew over the keyboard. On the screens in front of him, the data seemed to flicker and re-organize itself.

"Check this out. It's imagery from your visor. Enhanced and zoomed in. You see that area? Watch as I enhance it."

Kara cocked her head slightly and watched as the image slowly resolved from the pixellated state to something more recognizable. A second later, she leaned forwards, her expression intent.

"Empty space?"

"That is the Lagrange point where the Watchtower should be, at this resolution it should have been visible, if it was there, yet the stars in the background match the current sky, showing that time-travel is not what happened in this case. I think that Kal ended up in a parallel world."

Kara frowned. "That's not good. Can we figure out which one it is?"

"By ourselves, no." Batman said slowly, then his gaze seemed to intensify. "We need help, someone who understands the multiverse and can navigate it."

"You do know someone, right?" Kara asked. Batman nodded slowly.

"I do. A team I met once as they were passing through, they gave me a means of communicating with them should the need ever arise. But it means that I will owe them a favor."

The room went silent for a while, then Batman nodded as he made his decision.

"So be it. I am _not_ losing my brother!"

.

Diana stared in near-shock at the huge vessel docked to one of the ports of the Watchtower. A long cylindrical silver and gold shape resembling a collection of art-deco towers fused together with propulsion pods at one end and a spiralling window at the prow, it was nothing she had ever seen before.

"What _is_ that thing?"

" _That_ is a Shiftship." Said a cloaked man that Diana had never seen before. She looked at him, noting his grey bodysuit with the golden circuitry running across it. "Mr Wilder, currently working for the Planetary Organisation. I'm the Pilot of the Ship. I believe that Mr Snow is meeting with Batman. If you are Diana, known also as Wonder Woman, he wants you to enter."

Diana nodded and moved quickly towards the door to the meeting hall. It opened at her approach and she stepped through into the suddenly-quiet room.

"This is Diana of Themyscera, one of the three who leads the Justice League." Batman said. "Diana, may I introduce some who will hopefully be our multiversal allies. Elijah Snow, cryothermal manipulation, leader of the organisation known as Planetary and his aides and primary team, The Drummer, technopath, Jakita Wagner, physical enhancile and Ambrose Chase, localised reality-warping."

A white-haired, white-suited man nodded at her while the younger man by his side grinned widely. The dark-skinned woman nodded, fidgeting in her seat while the fourth man, also clad in a white suit, smiled in greeting.

"I have offered the use of one of the secondary stations in orbit around Jupiter as a local outpost for them, all regular costs to be met by the Justice League. In addition, this reality will serve as a neutral meeting point for them and their alternates."

"Sounds like a fair deal." Diana noted as she sat down. "Any other organisations that we are allying ourselves with?"

"At this time, no." Batman said, "Although Mr Snow has mentioned a few other organisations that might be worth contacting, alternate Stormwatches and a group called the Authority who use a fifty-mile-long space-ship as their home base. I'm uncertain about them, they seem… unstable. Too prone to using power. One group called the Monarchy, led by a powerful telepath. But their knowledge of the structure of the multiverse is… interesting."

Diana raised an eyebrow.

"The multiverse is a crystalline structure comprising of 196,833 discrete dimensions." The Drummer said, glancing at his boss. "It's called The Bleed and it holds all known universes. But I hear it's a reality-offshoot from something even bigger, _compression-space,_ the ultimate in information superposition…"

"Drummer."

Snow's single word shut the young man up and Snow turned his attention back to Batman.

"I have… contacts I can talk to and Drummer here has already identified what he calls your…what was it again?"

"Quantum-flux vibrational harmonic pattern." The Drummer sulked.

"Yeah, that." Snow continued. "I have some who owe me a favor or two. The entire Hark organisation in my reality for starters. I'll put the word out that you've lost someone. With luck, someone spotted where this Kal of yours went. I'd like to meet him, I've never actually met a Kryptonian before. I'll do my best to help."

"There aren't that many of them." Batman replied. "Thank you."

Diana stared at him in shock.

"What?"

.

Diana watched as the ship detached from the station. It smoothly accelerated, flowing past the viewport like a river of metal, before a strange tear seemed to open in front of it, revealing a region of space that was flowing oddly and contained red light that shifted in ways that defied understanding.

"Do you think it will work?"

"I don't know." Batman growled from the corner of the room. "But it is our best chance to rescue my brother."

" _Batman, please report to the Monitor Womb immediately. We have a signal from your brother._ "

"That was fast." Diane noted as they turned and sprinted for the lift. Once inside, Batman stood impatiently until the doors opened again, then he seemed to teleport to stand by J'onn.

"I am putting it on the main screen now." The Martian said as he tapped a control, then the screen lit up, showing Kal Kent standing with several other figures, one of whom looked just like him, except with a different uniform, another clad in armour.

"Kal." Bruce said in relief.

"Batman." Kal replied with a smile. "Can you backtrack the signal?"

"It is coming through a dimensional micro-vortex." Steel said as he worked at one of the consoles behind Batman and the growing crowd of curious superheroes. "We _may_ be able to reconfigure one of the teleport gates to breach the dimensional barrier, but it could take a while."

"Steel." Kal nodded in greeting.

"Nice armor." The man in the red-and-gold armour whistled. "Did you build yours as well?"

"Only the first suit." Steel said absently. "This suit is ceremonial Kryptonian armor."

"Really?" Kal's double asked curiously. "I've never seen any reference to it in the Fortress' archives."

"Different worlds." Kal pointed out.

The other Kryptonian nodded, then he frowned. "You know, if we can make contact with _one_ alternate reality, there are almost certainly others. I think I'm going to have to break out my final salvaged Type 6 Embassy for this and use it to do some _serious_ building. Maybe on the far side of the moon… thank goodness I have so much experience with environment domes…"

Kal and Batman exchanged confused glances as the Kryptonian continued to mutter to himself.

"Hey, Steel, right?" the man in the red powered armor called. "I'm setting up a link here, sending my readings on the micro-vortex. If I'm reading this right, it should be possible to make it larger, maybe to a couple of meters or so…"

"I agree." Steel said, then he half-turned. "Gear! Get to my lab and power everything up! J'onn, I need all the tech-types we have reporting in! Red-suit…"

"What?" The man said in disbelief. " _Red-suit_? I'm Iron Man!"

"Really?" John Henry Irons asked curiously. "Huh. Imagine that. I'm going to transfer the datalink to my lab."

"I'll do the same." Iron Man said. "Forge! Get your lab powered up, I'll get Reed to help!"

"I'll go and help them." Clark said. "You catch up with your friends."

"Thank you." Kal replied as he watched them leave, then he turned back to his brother. For a long moment they simply looked at each other, then Kal broke the silence.

"Nothing major happened in my absence?"

"No." Batman replied. "How are things in that world?"

"More Kryptonians." Kal grinned. "My alternate, three others currently awake and another six in stasis awaiting revival due to Kryptonite poisoning."

"Ten of them." Bruce mused. "Their Justice League must be very powerful."

"They don't have one." Kal replied, earning several startled looks. "They have multiple teams that occasionally work together and an agency called SHIELD that helps them to co-ordinate their actions."

"Sounds risky." Bruce mused. "They leave themselves open to government interference."

"They seem to have a hands-off policy and the leader of SHIELD respects them." Kal shrugged. "It may help that Clark has encouraged the other Kryptonians to join different teams."

"Clark?"

"He's Clark Kent." Kal explained with a shrug. "Here, I'm Kal, he's Clark. He got outed a while ago but had enough friends that it didn't really matter in the long run since he's independently wealthy and works with the leader of one of the teams. He also teaches part-time at the local school, which is rather amusing."

Batman nodded, then paused.

"I think I need to contact someone. Expect a team to appear soon."

"A team?" Kal asked curiously. "Do I know them?"

"No." Bruce admitted. "You were dealing with a ferry when they came through."

Kal raised a quizzical eyebrow.

.

" _Ten_ Kryptonians." Kara marveled as she reviewed the conversation. "Ten!"

"Sounds cool." Robin grinned. "Imagine what they could do… oh, hell! Imagine _what_ they _could_ do!"

"Conquer the world?" Kara asked and Robin nodded. "Yeah… I hope to hell that _someone_ can stop them. I'd hate to try and face off against them five-to-one."

"Kal told me that the organisation known as SHIELD has stockpiled Kryptonite to prevent such a thing from occurring." Bruce said from behind them, causing both teens to jump in shock. "Kal suggested that I do the same here. Just in case."

"But… weren't you already collecting it?" Robin asked curiously.

"I was." Bruce admitted. "It could hurt my brother. I couldn't allow that."


	6. Return

Kal looked up as his host floated into the library.

"Kal," Xavier said, "We have just received a message from a starship in orbit. Fortress, please play the message."

A holographic screen shimmered into existence and an image of a white-haired man formed.

" _I am John Snow of the organisation known as Planetary."_ He said. _"My companions and I are here to seek out the wayward traveler known as Kal-El. Kal-El, if you have received this message, please contact us on this frequency. Your brother wants you back. Message repeats. I am John Snow of the organisation known as Planetary. My companions and I are here to seek out the wayward traveler known as Kal-El. Kal-El, if you have received this message, please contact us on this frequency…"_

Kal rose to his feet. "Can we contact them? And my brother?"

Xavier tapped several controls on his chair's armrest and a second screen faded into view, clearing to show a view of the Monitor Womb.

"I have set it for split-screen at their ends." Xavier whispered as a blond girl in a black-and-silver bodysuit turned and grinned.

" _Kal!"_

"Hey, Kara." Kal said with a smile. "Can you identify the gentleman who should also be on the screen?"

" _Yep, that's John Snow. Hey, John, does this mean you found him?"_

" _I seem to have done, yes."_ John replied. _"Tell Batman to prepare the station. I'll be bringing Kal back soon."_

"Also, could you bring back something else as well?" Kal asked. "The people here have just finished building a Gate that will let us move between our realities. If you can get it to the Watchtower…"

" _A Reality Gate?"_ Kara gasped. _"Wow, that's just sooooo cool!"_

" _Interesting."_ Snow mused. _"Do you mind if I let one of my people look at it during transit?"_

"I'll send one of my people along as well since he'll be able to return through the Gate." Xavier said. "He's called Forge and he's something of a technopath."

" _Sounds like a lesser version of The Drummer's power."_ Snow said with a raised eyebrow. _"The Drummer can understand all the information around him. He's told me that you can only send signals through that… swirly thing."_

"The micro-vortex." Kal nodded. "Yep. I'll get the Gate boxed up and fly it and Forge up."

" _We've already placed a reality beacon so that we can find this dimension again if we need to."_ Snow said. _"We'll be waiting. Snow out."_

The first screen blinked out and Kara leaned closer to her screen.

" _So, cousin, any cute guys there that you think I may like?"_

"Whoah!" Peter Parker said from behind them, making Kal jump. "Hello, beautiful!"

Kal glared at the teen and he backed away quickly. "What? What did I do?"

"She's. My. Cousin."

"Deyaaam." Peter whistled. "I _thought_ she looked familiar! You're Supergirl, right? Love the outfit."

" _I am."_ Kara giggled. _"Hey, do I exist in your reality?"_

Peter nodded. "Yup, but you're… the _you_ that is _here_ , I mean, is dating Captain America."

" _Who?"_ Kara frowned.

"Supersoldier." Peter explained quickly. "He's leader of the Avengers."

Kara's expression remained perplexed.

"I'll explain it when I return." Kal sighed.

.

The Earth seemed to shrink behind them as Kal accelerated out of the atmosphere, the Gate held in a complex web of straps and cords while Forge lay in the personnel pod strapped to his back. Ahead of them, the cylindrical-cluster shape of John Snow's starship grew against the starscape.

" _That is one cool starship."_ Forge said, his voice relayed by the comm systems to Kal's headpiece. _"Looks kinda art-deco. I'm accessing one of the orbital arrays Clark put into place… looks like it has one primary engine, eight secondaries around it and… that can't be right. The energy readings are… off."_

The ship grew until it was a curved wall with an airlock surrounded by flashing lights. Kal flew into the airlock and raised an eyebrow as he found himself in a bay filled with air despite being open to vacuum. Five people were waiting for him, one of whom he recognized instantly.

"Mr Snow."

"Kal-El." The white-haired man nodded back. "These are my associates, Ambrose Chase, Jakita Wagner and The Dummer, all from Planetary. And this is Jim Wilder, the Pilot of the Ship."

"Honoured." Kal said as he landed. Hitting the quick-release, he placed the container on the ground, letting Forge step out.

"This is Forge, technopath from Xavier's Institute."

"Yo." Forge waved. "Groovy place, this. Wow! That's a _lot_ of tech you're wearing!"

Kal followed Forge's gaze to Wilder, who was smiling self-consciously.

"I'm not really _wearing_ it…" He admitted and Forge darted closer to him, reaching out to rest one hand on his grey-with-gold-circuitry bodysuit.

"That is… I've never come across _anything_ like this before! There's quantum circuits, dimensional shunts, bio-interfaces and things I've never even _dreamed_ of before. Wow, dude, just… wow."

"Thanks, I think." Wilder said after a long moment. Now, if you'll pardon me, I really need to get to the bridge so that we can leave."

"Oh, right, sure." Forge said in embarrassment. "Sorry."

Wilder smiled, then vanished in a flare of light. A moment later, a small vibration seemed to ripple through the ship and a large hatch slid closed across the outer entrance.

"It'll only take a few hours." Snow said. "This reality and yours are linked by several channels which will speed our voyage."

"From what I saw, the two reality-clusters have had several crossings already." The Drummer chimed in. "Other worlds must have had some cool crossovers…"

The Drummer trailed off as Snow gave him a _Look_.

"Sooo…" The Drummer said, turning his attention to Forge. "What say I give you a tour through this ship and leave the old guys to talk?"

"Sure." Forge shrugged.

Snow sighed and waved for Ambrose to go with them before turning his attention back to Kal.

"Hey, I heard you're strong, right?" Jakita burst out. "There's a great sparring area, come on! Unless you're chicken."

Kal laughed as he followed the jumpsuit-clad woman. "You realize I'm a Kryptonian, right?"

"So?" Jakita shrugged. "I went up against The Four. You're probably easy after those bastards."

Snow facepalmed.

.

The salle seemed to shudder as Jakita slammed into the wall. Pulling herself out of the dent, she staggered towards her waiting opponent, fists clenched but her gait unstable.

"You'll… have to… do better… than… that!" She ground out, throwing a haymaker at the unmoving Kal and missing him by several feet. "Hold… still, dammit!"

"Jakita, stand down!" Snow snapped and Jakita growled at him before her feet shot out from under her, dropping her onto her ass. Kal looked down to see that a patch of ice had appeared from nowhere. Lifting himself slightly into the air, he floated over to Snow's side.

"Nice trick. One of the kids at the Institute could do something similar, but he fires blasts of ice and also uses it as armor."

"Interesting." Snow mused as Jakita fell over again and started to swear. "I can subtract heat from things. My file said that I was… _heh_ … a _cold_ bastard."

"I never really checked my file." Kal admitted. "I just have what some call the _Flying Brick_ powerset with a few extras. Flight, super-strength, super-speed, virtual invincibility, enhanced senses… that kind of thing."

"Interesting." Snow mused. "You're stronger than Jakita…"

"He was just lucky!" Jakita protested.

"Faster too."

"He caught me by surprise!"

"And flying gives you another dimension in fights." Snow finished. "How did you do against the you from back there?"

"He didn't stand a chance." Kal shrugged. "He admitted that he's never really fought anyone on his own level before whereas I've studied the fighting arts."

"Ah." Snow nodded slowly. "So, you have lots of skills that he lacks."

"But he can use his powers better to help people." Kal admitted. "He's been operating as a hero more openly than I have, and for longer if you go in terms of hours active, and has more experience working with others with varying powers. I think we both learned quite a bit from each other. He's given me an open invitation to teach him how to _really_ fight."

"I'll have to wrangle an invite and look round." Snow mused as Jakita finally made it off the ice and stormed over.

"Dammit! Another few moments and I'd have had him!"

Both Kal and Snow looked at her in disbelief and she had the grace to blush.

.

Forge whistled as the Watchtower slowly grew in the forwards viewport.

"That is quite a space station." He said quietly and Kal nodded.

"We are clear for docking." Wilder said from the podium where he was holding an odd wheel that had lightning-bolt-shaped struts that didn't actually connect with the hub. Forge gave it another look.

"How does that _work_?"

"It works very well." Wilder snarked as he adjusted the angle of the floating wheel. Forge glared at him before turning back to the viewport and jolting as the green-aura'd man on the other side waved at him.

"What the…?!"

"Hello, John." Kal said and the figure on the other side said something.

"Putting him on the speaker now." Wilder said.

"John, you're speaking to all of us now."

" _Okay. Welcome back, Superman. New recruit?_ "

"This is Forge and he's here to help us install a new bit of technology before he heads home."

" _Excellent._ " John said, giving Forge a nod of acknowledgement. " _I've got a job to do on Oa, so I'm heading out now. I'll see you when I return._ "

Forge's eyes widened as a green sphere formed around John and he vanished into a whirling tunnel that collapsed inwards once he was gone.

"Who. Was. That?"

"John Stewart, one of the Green Lanterns." Kal replied. "Why?"

"I could _sense_ his tech." Forge said, still staring at where the man had vanished. "It was… even Kryptonian tech doesn't feel like _that_."

Kal raised an eyebrow.

.

The airlock door opened and Kal grinned at the assembled trio waiting for him.

"Diana, Lucius… hey, bro."

"Brother." Batman nodded back to him. "Welcome back. Interesting trip?"

"You have no idea." Kal laughed. "So, did you get the chamber ready?"

"I did. We have full datalinks and power supplies at the required levels." Batman said. "We are ready to install… now _that's_ just showing off."

Kal gave his brother the most innocent look he could manage, ignoring the fact that he had tucked the passenger pod under his left arm while using his right to lift the Gate.

"Fine." Batman growled as he turned, his cape flaring dramatically. "This way."

Clark Kal Wayne grinned as he followed his brother out of the hangar and into the applause of the gathered superheroes.

.

"…nice place." Batman allowed as he looked around at the large dome, then his gaze settled on the dome that rose far above the others. "That would be yours, yes?"

"It would." Xavier agreed. "Clark moved the Hall of Doors to inside it and reconfigured the top few levels to act as a spaceport for the groups of Earth."

"And since no-one else will need a spaceport in this reality, it is secure." Batman nodded, then he looked round at the dome again. "Any limits on how we can arrange things in here?"

"No weapons that can damage the Domes are allowed, nor are you allowed to touch the shield relay at the apex of the Dome. You can either supply your own power through the Gate or buy power from us. No fighting with anyone else. Trips to our Earth are only allowed under certain circumstances."

"I get the general idea." Batman nodded, then he paused, looking up at the massive cylindrical starship passing overhead. "What is Planetary doing here?"

"They asked for a Dome for themselves." Xavier said, earning a glance. "They came to collect the Gate that we made for them to take it back to their Earth."

"And the more realities that make contact, the more secure you will be against an incursion since the advantages of this base are great enough that the groups that use it will wish to preserve it." Batman agreed. "Impressive."

.

"Superman!"

"Hey, Nightwing." Clark smiled at his adopted nephew. "Sorry it took me so long to get back."

"Hey, I heard you went to another reality." Dick Grayson grinned. "I can forgive you… if…"

"If?" Clark prompted and Dick looked round to see if they were being overheard.

"If you can tell me about the hot babes that were there."

Clark grinned. "Well, the _hottest_ person there was Johnny Storm."

"WHAT!?" Dick shouted in shock. "The hottest person was a dude! What sort of reality is _that_?"

Clark burst out laughing.


End file.
